Travelers and owners may both benefit from goodwill associated with a positive experience the traveler has in regards to a stay at a rental owned by the owner. In some scenarios, the stay may be related to a date and/or time range that the traveler arrives or checks into a vacation rental and another date and/or time that the traveler checks out of the vacation rental, for example. In some instances, the traveler may wait until some period of time has passed before taking the time to generate a review of the property at which the traveler stayed. In some examples, the traveler may have had a positive review of the property (e.g., 4 or 5 stars in a five star system where 5 stars is the highest approval rating and 1 star is the lowest approval rating). After the passage of time the travelers recollection of their experience may change, and what would have been a positive review may turn into a more negative review (e.g., 3 stars or lower).
A less than positive review that may occur due to a travelers change in circumstances after the stay or due to a traveler's lack of accurate recollection about the stay may lead to reviews of the property that do not accurately reflect the actual sentiment the traveler had during the stay. Stays that are accurately reviewed as being positive may benefit both traveler and owner by increasing rental opportunities for the owner and by leaving a favorable impression on the traveler that may result in future stays by the traveler. Moreover, some owners may not directly manage some or all of the aspects of the logistics of a stay and may defer some or all tasks to an agent or vacation rental company. Stays that are accurately reviewed as being positive may also benefit the agent/vacation rental company by generating good will that may garner new and repeat stays from individuals who read the positive reviews.
Generally, in some industries (e.g., hospitality) or services (e.g., restaurants) where patrons or guests provide feedback, typically in the form of a review, ensuring that the review is legitimate, that is, the review was completed by a guest who actually experienced the subject of the review (e.g., a traveler during a vacation stay at a vacation rental) is based on an honor system. Accordingly, there are likely to be reviews that are fraudulently submitted by a person who did not actually experience the subject of the review. As a result, a party having a proprietary interest in receiving authentic reviews (e.g., an owner of a vacation rental unit of a proprietor of a restaurant) may have their reputation and/or good will damaged by fraudulent reviews that may include negative impressions of an experience. Further, the party having the proprietary interest may garner an undeserved reputation and/or good will due to positive reviews that are fraudulently submitted (e.g., reviews submitted by the owner or proprietor). Fraudulent reviews may arise in part due to a lack of adequate validation and authentication mechanisms.
Thus, there is a need for devices, systems, methods and software that facilitate authentication and validation of review of an event.